In 1992, voters sent a record number of women to Congress, calling it the “Year of the Woman” by the media and political scientists.
When the final votes are counted in the 2024 election, we may have a new way to refer to the 2024 election: The Year of the Man.
President-elect Donald Trump This year the men won by 10 pointsAccording to early exit polls, a result may change after final votes are counted. Vice President Kamala Harris, meanwhile, appears to be leading women by 10 points — but if exit polls are correct, He lost ground with women compared to Biden’s 2020 results. Exit polls also suggest a shift to the right Latino male. In marshaling the male vote, and retaining a slim majority of white women, Trump was able to overcome his weaknesses and build a dominant leadership by wooing female voters decisively, allowing him to decisively capture the presidency.
Exit polls are notoriously unreliable, and it will be days before we have a clear idea of how Trump won. But there’s no denying that Trump built his campaign to appeal to men. Trump had a busy few months leading up to Election Day Intense outreach to male voters, Appearing on podcasts and being interviewed by influential media personalities such as Joe Rogan, Logan Paul and Theo Vaughan. He portrayed himself as a powerful leader capable of restoring the nation’s lost glory—in other words, at a time when men were undisputedly at the top of the social hierarchy. After a man tried to kill the former president at a rally in Pennsylvania this summer, Trump stood disfigured with blood on his face and his fists raised in the air, projecting an air of strength that has been hailed as iconic. Throughout the campaign, Trump has displayed the aggressiveness that has defined his life in public, relentlessly attacking his Democratic opponents, the media and anyone he deems insufficiently supportive.
Trump specifically wanted to get Youth of all races And Men without a college education This was a risky strategy in the election because the voters Trump sought were historically among them The most difficult to assemble. But by appealing to them, Trump hoped to pull off another victory Similar to 2016while he won the men’s by 11 points. In 2020, Biden was able to defeat Trump in part by erasing his large advantage male voter This year, it seems, Trump has won the men back.
There are many reasons why male voters have become disaffected and receptive to her messaging in recent years Inflation has increased the cost of living Painful for millions of people The post-epidemic is male Women lag behind in education. their wages stand still or declining as women’s wages rise, and less of them Working they are struggling together The Loneliness Epidemic That doesn’t seem to affect women the same way. Feminism has gone mainstream, making some men feel like they’re not worth it.
What lessons should women learn from this election? Polls leading up to the election showed a huge gender gap, with women favoring Kamala Harris in double numbers and men favoring Donald Trump. Since the 1980s, women voters have preferred Democrats and, in general, They registered and voted in greater numbers than men.
Trump’s struggles with women are largely of his own making. As a candidate in 2016, he was accused of sexual harassment by multiple women and was caught on tape bragging about the sexual harassment. That wasn’t enough to stop voters from electing him. As president, he appointed Supreme Court justices who helped Repeal federally protected abortion rights. Now, abortion is banned Out of more than 20 Including some US states that do not make exceptions for rape and molestation victims. Trump was found last year Legally liable for rape He repeatedly criticizes women he doesn’t like, including Kamala Harris and Rep. Nancy PelosiCrude, sexist, and obscene terms. In the days leading up to the election, a recording surfaced of convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein calling Trump his best friend.
None of that was enough to convince voters that he shouldn’t be given another shot at the nation’s most important job. His winning coalition appears to have included white women, the majority of whom voted for Donald Trump in 2024, according to exit polls. Just like they did four years ago.
For a very real moment, it looked like women voters, as a broad, multiracial group, could help send a Democrat to the White House, as they did in 2020.
In the end, it wasn’t enough. American voters have now twice elected Trump over eminently qualified women.
The last time Trump won, women took to the streets in a historic protest. In the next election cycle, the United States elected more women to Congress than ever before. It also helped pave the way for a new generation of women leaders Six women running for president as Democrats In 2020. It can happen again.
Ultimately, it will take a few more days to count the final votes and determine what they mean. But one conclusion seems obvious. Donald Trump campaigned on disaffected men. It worked.
